Brandon Bass Can Actually Anchor A Defense
After getting burned early by DeMarcus Cousins, Byron Scott quickly turned to his bench subbing Brandon Bass in for Roy Hibbert. Though honestly, fans everywhere would love to see these minutes be given to second year man Tarik Black, Brandon Bass has actually been surprisingly good in his past few games.
Coming over from Boston, Bass was thrown into a bench role and expected to put up the same numbers, a ridiculous request by any measure. Now that he is finally getting comfortable as the sixth man, he is starting to show LA fans what kind of player he really is.
One of the qualms fans have had with Bass is his inability to defend the rim, which seems to be more of a Byron Scott problem than a Brandon Bass problem. That said, when Scott utilizes the Russell-Clarkson-Brown-Randle-Bass lineup, Bass’ size or lack thereof, to some extent, gets masked by the young Lakers’ quickness and athleticism.
Similar to the Tarik Black situation, fans would likely rather see Larry Nance Jr. taking Bass’ spot in this young lineup, but Bass must be given some credit for adjusting to his new role and beginning to thrive in it. Finishing with 10 points, five steals, six rebounds and four assists, Bass filled up the stat sheet and showed that he can actually anchor a defense when placed in the right lineup.
Next: Lakers vs Kings, 115-118: LA Turns A Blowout Into A Thriller
Even in a loss, things are starting to look a little bit brighter in La La Land especially in regards to Jordan Clarkson and D’Angelo Russell.